SBB to open Starbucks carriage

Swiss train operator SBB is to open the world’s first onboard Starbucks store next week.

The high street coffee chain, which opened its first coffee bar in mainland Europe in Switzerland 11 years ago, will begin serving passengers on the 06:36 Geneva Airport to St Gallen on November 21.

The Starbucks car is the culmination of a two-year project with SBB.

Liz Muller, director of concept design for Starbucks, said: “It was an incredible and rewarding challenge to design our first ever Starbucks store on a train. We had to combine functionality and beautiful design, whilst taking into account a variety of factors such as constant movement of the train, space limitation and stringent safety regulations.

“This is one of the smallest espresso bars and stores we have ever designed and is a result of a unique collaboration of experts, including local designers and engineers from SBB.”